The federal government has recommended against increasing the size and weight of trucks

As Congress debates a
way to fund this country’s deteriorating infrastructure, over 1,000 local
government leaders — including mayors, county engineers and public works
directors — sent a letter to Capitol Hill asking policymakers to oppose any
increases in truck size or weight, including longer double-trailer trucks and
heavier single-trailer trucks. And the letter arrives as Members have returned
to their respective states and districts during the congressional recess,
allowing them to talk to the signers of this letter.

“Maintaining
commonsense regulations with current truck sizes and weight
laws while opposing longer and heavier trucks has never been
more critical for our local communities
and state-maintained infrastructure,” said Commissioner Dick
Hall, chairman of the Mississippi Transportation Commission, who joined in
sending the letter. “I expect this unified message from various local
government officials to have an impact on policymakers. This is a critical time
for members to discuss the issue with their local officials.”

Hall noted the
additional costs that taxpayers will face to repair damaged roads and bridges.
“Our state and local budgets can’t even afford basic services today,” he
said. “We just don’t have the revenue to fund our local roads and bridges,
and it’s been that way for years,” said Hall. “Bigger trucks would cause
undue endangerments to our motorists while simultaneously breaking the backs of
our local budgets.”

The letter is being
delivered at the same time bigger-truck proponents continue to lobby federal
and state legislators, as well as the Trump administration, to allow longer and
heavier trucks on the road. Those companies leading coalitions are Anheuser-Busch
lobbying Congress for heavier tractor-trailers, and Amazon, FedEx and UPS
pushing Congress for longer double-trailer trucks.

The federal government has recommended against
increasing the size and weight of trucks. The U.S. Department of Transportation
(USDOT) studied truck size and weight laws over three years and in 2016
delivered its report to Congress, which recommended against any such
increases and did not recommend any pilot projects. The USDOT study found that
thousands of Interstate and other National Highway System bridges would not be
able to accommodate longer or heavier trucks, costing billions of dollars in
additional bridge costs.

The joint letter states, “Millions of miles
of truck traffic operate on local roads and bridges across the country, and any
bigger trucks allowed on our Interstates would mean additional trucks that
ultimately find their way onto our local infrastructure.”

Daniel J. Fedderly, executive director of the
Wisconsin County Highway Association, emphasized the many negative impacts
bigger trucks have on local infrastructure. “Bigger trucks undoubtedly end
up on local roads to load and unload freight, and those roads take a
beating,” Fedderly said. “Truck traffic needs to start and end
primarily on local roads, for fuel, food and rest. The infrastructure damage
costs triggered by those bigger trucks ends up being passed on to local
taxpayers,” he continued. “That’s nothing short of an unfunded mandate on local
government. We’re asking Congress to listen to their community leaders and
infrastructure experts across the country by opposing all bigger-truck
proposals.”

Shane Reese, director of
communications for the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks, noted that the timing
of the letter coincided with the congressional recess. “We believe delivering
this letter while Members are home will give them time to talk or meet with
their respective local leaders about the infrastructure concerns described in
the letter,” Reese said. “The congressional recess also offers many staff
on Capitol Hill more time to review infrastructure concerns back in states and
districts, and these staff will be prepared to develop policy positions against
bigger trucks for their bosses upon their return to Washington.”

In addition to the 1,000 community leaders
opposed to bigger trucks, a poll conducted last year found strong public
opposition to heavier and longer tractor-trailers.